On 11 July 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a Final Report on guidelines for the criteria on the assessment of knowledge and competence under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Background
Article 81(15) of MiCA provides for ESMA to issue guidelines specifying the criteria for the assessment of knowledge and competence in accordance with paragraph 7 of this Article. A key objective of the guidelines is to ensure a minimum level of knowledge and competence of staff providing advice and information on crypto-assets or crypto-asset services to clients, to enhance investor protection and foster investors’ trust in the crypto-asset markets.
On 17 February 2025, ESMA issued a Consultation Paper seeking views on draft guidelines for the criteria on the assessment of knowledge and competence under MiCA. The consultation period closed on 22 April 2025.
Final Report
Section 3 of the Final Report consists of a feedback statement relating to the draft guidelines which were included in the ESMA public consultation. Among other changes, ESMA has decided to set the date of application of the guidelines to six months after the publication of the translation of the guidelines, rather than two months as originally set out in the consultation.
Annex III of the Final Report contains the final guidelines.
Next steps
The guidelines in Annex III of the Final Report will be translated into the official EU languages and published on ESMA’s website. The publication of the translations will trigger a two-month period during which Member State competent authorities must notify ESMA whether they comply or intend to comply with the guidelines. The guidelines will apply from six months after the publication of the translations on the ESMA website.